(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to surgical instruments and, in particular, to a surgical instruments handle and instruments assembly which may be preferably utilized in endoscopic surgery, and being insertible through an endoscopic locking trocar during such surgery.
(2) Brief Description of the Prior Art
Surgical procedures require considerable touch and feel of the surgeon in the operation of the particular surgical instrumentation in order to satisfactorily and carefully accomplish the desired objective of the surgical procedure Accordingly, surgical instruments must incorporate into their design and operability, the ability of the surgeon to rely on simple touch techniques for activation of the instruments. Additionally, such instruments should also be designed to avoid or reduce strain upon the arms, hands and fingers of the surgeon.
Such objectives are particularly critical with respect to endoscopic surgical instruments. Endoscopic procedures gain access to the inside of an anatomical cavity by using an implement, such as a trocar, cannula, or a needle having a sharpened point to pierce or puncture the bodily tissues, muscles, membranes, or the like, which may form a portion or surround the cavity wall. A surgical needle, for example, connected to a catheter may be used to pierce a cavity in a blood vessel, subarachnoid space, heat ventricle or the like. After piercing such cavity, the needle is left in situ and used to inject or withdraw gases or liquid-phase fluids from the cavity, or to insufflate the cavity by injection of, for example, a particular inert gas or other fluid.
Similarly, in many endoscopic procedures, a small incision may be made in the skin of a patient, along the abdomen, for example, and the sharp point of a larger penetrating implement, such as a trocar of suitable length and diameter, is inserted into the incision and pushed until the point punctures the cavity wall. Therefore, a sleeve is slid over the exterior surface of the implement into the puncture wound to serve as a lining for preserving the shape of the passageway created by the implement. After the sleeve is in place, the implement may be withdrawn and an endoscope, forceps, and other surgical instruments may be inserted via the sleeve to view and operate upon organs within the cavity.
Since the area in which the surgeon must perform procedures incorporating endoscopic surgical instrumentation is smaller than that normally encountered when conventional surgical techniques are employed, reliance by the surgeon upon his touch and feel during the surgery becomes even more critical, and surgical instrumentation must take this factor into consideration such that touch and feel are transferred between the surgeons hand and the fingers through the instrument and between the are of operation with the abdomen and the surgeon's hand.
Many surgical instruments for use in endoscopic and conventional surgical procedures, such as forceps and other cutting instruments, incorporate a pistol-like handle. Typical of such prior art pistol-like handles is that as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,375, entitled "Surgical Cutting Instrument". Many such instruments include a protrusion or abutment on the pistol-like handle in order to receive the thumb of the surgeon. Accordingly, such instruments may not maximize surgical touch and feel between the area of surgery and the surgeon's hand.
The present invention addresses the problems and the deficiencies of the prior art, as discussed above.